The present invention relates to battery terminals which are connected to electrodes of batteries (battery posts) to be mounted in automobiles, for example, and more particularly to a battery terminal attachable to and detachable from a battery post in one touching by pivoting an operating lever (a cam lever) without using any clamping tool such as an impact wrench or the like.
The present invention also relates to a battery post adaptor which is fitted to a stud bolt type battery post to ensure that the press-fitting of the battery terminal is facilitated.
It has heretofore been practiced to fit a battery post adaptor to a stud bolt type battery post to ensure that the press-fitting of a battery terminal is facilitated. In this case, there exists a related battery post adaptor as shown in FIG. 12.
In FIG. 12, a battery post adaptor 2 is such that a circular flange portion 3 for preventing a battery terminal from slipping out is provided at the upper end of a tubular terminal mounting portion 2a having an internal thread 2b into which an external thread 1a of a battery post 1 is fitted, and that a hexagonal portion 4 as the fitting portion of a tool for fastening the adaptor tight is provided at the lower end of the terminal mounting portion 2a. 
In this case, the total height required of the battery post adaptor is equal in height to a total of three portions including the terminal mounting portion 2a, the flange portion 3 and the hexagonal portion 4.
As shown in FIG. 13, further, the maximum dimension in the diametric direction has had to be determined by the apex-to-apex dimension F of the hexagonal portion 4 under a condition that the face-to-face dimension B of the hexagonal portion 4 is set greater than the diameter D of the flange portion 3 in view of the fact that the battery post adaptor 2 is fitted up with an impact wrench 5.
Therefore, a major problem is that as the battery post adaptor 2 tends to become large in both its height and width directions, a battery terminal to be fitted thereto is also large-sized.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-60053U, for example, there is a known battery terminal detachable from a battery post by pivoting an operation lever.
FIG. 14 shows the construction of the battery terminal described in the above publication. The battery terminal 30 is formed with a cam lever (an operation lever) 32 that is pivotally fitted to a terminal body 31 comprising a C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 33 and a pair of folded-back pieces 34 and 35 extending in parallel to each other from both the respective ends of the C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 33. A pivotal shaft 36 is fitted to the pair of folded-back pieces 34 and 35, the cam lever 32 being pivotally supported by the pivotal shaft 36. Electric wires W are connected to one folded-back piece 34.
The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. While the cam lever 32 is uprighted as shown in FIG. 15, the cam portion 32a of the cam lever 32 is also kept upright and the caliber of the adaptor fitting portion 33 of the battery terminal 30 grows large. Consequently, a battery post 40 can easily be fitted into the adaptor fitting portion 33 in the above condition.
After the battery post 40 is fitted into the adaptor fitting portion 33, the cam lever 32 is turned laterally toward the pair of folded-back pieces 34 and 35 as shown in FIG. 16, whereby to make the cam portion 32a press the peripheral face of the battery post 40. Then a counterforce resulting from the pressing force of the cam portion 32a causes the inner peripheral face of the adaptor fitting portion 33 of the battery terminal 30 to be pressed against the peripheral face of the battery post 40. Consequently, the frictional force between the inner peripheral face of the adaptor fitting portion 33 and the outer peripheral face of the battery post 40 connects the battery terminal 30 to the battery post 40 electrically and mechanically.
In case where the cam lever 32 is uprighted in the above condition, on the other hand, the battery terminal 30 can be removed from battery post 40 in one touching because the pressing force of the cam portion 32a toward the battery post 40 is released.
Therefore, with this battery terminal 30, the battery terminal 30 can easily be attached to and detached from the battery post 40 through the operation of uprighting and turning the cam lever 32 laterally in one touching.
However, as shown in FIG. 17, though it has heretofore been arranged to make the pressing force of the cam portion 32a act on the outer peripheral face of the battery post 40 by securing a predetermined overlap margin xcex41 between the cam portion 32a and the battery post 40, there is no portion for absorbing the overlap margin xcex41 because the cam lever 32 that is made of solid and rigid material, and this makes a great operation force necessary to pivot the cam lever. Moreover, as there is the probability that the battery post 40 would be deformed (dented) by the overlap margin xcex41 or that the cam portion 32a would be deformed, the contact load has not been stabilized, thus resulting in low contact reliability.
Furthermore, it has heretofore been arranged that the mounting of such a battery terminal is completed by turning the cam lever 32 laterally toward the electric-wire-connecting side and as the cam lever 32 is turned laterally during the pressing operation, it has been difficult to install any obstructing thing near the battery terminal. In other words, even in a case where a ring terminal (so-called LA terminal) is used to connect a battery cable to the battery terminal, it has also been difficult to fit a stud bolt for connecting the ring terminal to the portion nearby. Although placing the stud bolt like that is technically possible, the cam lever may not be turned laterally up to the horizontal position and this may result in a poor cam lever settlement.
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 64-29784U, for example, there is another related battery terminal detachable from a battery post by pivoting an operating lever. FIG. 18 shows the construction of the battery terminal described in the above publication. The battery terminal 130 is formed with a cam lever (an operating lever) 132 that is pivotally fitted to a terminal body 131 comprising a C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 133 and a pair of folded-back pieces 134 and 135 extending in parallel to each other from both the respective ends of the C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 133. A pivotal shaft 136 is fitted to the pair of folded-back pieces 134 and 135, the cam lever 132 being pivotally supported by the pivotal shaft 136. Electric wires W are connected to one folded-back piece 134.
The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 20A and 20B. While the cam lever 132 is uprighted as shown in FIG. 20A, the cam portion 132a of the cam lever 132 is also kept upright and the caliber of the adaptor fitting portion 133 of the battery terminal 130 grows large. Consequently, a battery post 140 can easily be fitted into the adaptor fitting portion 133 in the above condition.
The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 20A and 20B. While the cam lever 132 is uprighted as shown in FIG. 20A, the cam portion 32a of the cam lever 132 is also kept upright and the caliber of the adaptor fitting portion 133 of the battery terminal 130 grows large. Consequently, a battery post 140 can easily be fitted into the adaptor fitting portion 133 in the above condition.
After the battery post 140 is fitted into the adaptor fitting portion 133, the cam lever 132 is turned laterally toward the pair of folded-back pieces 134 and 135 as shown in FIG. 20B whereby to make the cam portion 32a press the peripheral face of the battery post 140. Then a counterforce resulting from the pressing force of the cam portion 132a causes the inner peripheral face of the adaptor fitting portion 133 of the battery terminal 130 to be pressed against the peripheral face of the battery post 140. Consequently, the frictional force between the inner peripheral face of the adaptor fitting portion 133 and the outer peripheral face of the battery post 140 connects the battery terminal 130 to the battery post 140 electrically and mechanically.
In case where the cam lever 132 is uprighted in the above condition, on the other hand, the battery terminal 130 can be removed from battery post 140 in one touching because the pressing force of the cam portion 32a toward the battery post 140 is released.
Therefore, with this battery terminal 130, the battery terminal 130 can easily be attached to and detached from the battery post 140 through the operation of uprighting and turning the cam lever 132 laterally in one touching.
However, because a dimension X between outer faces of the folded-back pieces 134 and 135 for pivotally supporting the cam lever 132 is considerably smaller than a dimension D between outer side faces the adaptor fitting portion 133 due to the C-shaped configuration, the modulus of the moment of inertia to the lateral bending and the modulus of section are low and the problem is that the rigidity and strength of the battery terminal are low.
Furthermore, a problem with the battery terminal 130 is poor workability because it lacks a mechanism for holding the cam lever 132 in the upright or lateral position.
In other words, the absence of the mechanism for securely holding the cam lever 132 in the preceding upright position permits the cam lever 132 to freely pivot because of gravity, vibration or the like and this will result in poor workability in that when the cam lever is fitted to the battery post 140, the cam lever 132 must be fitted thereto before being returned to the upright position again.
When the adaptor fitting portion 133 is pressed against the battery post 140 by turning the cam lever 132 laterally, the pivoting work has remained difficult because the degree of pivoting the cam lever 132 to certainly establish the contact condition has been left unknown.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-289009A, for example, there is still another related battery terminal detachable from a battery post by pivoting an operating lever.
FIG. 21 shows the construction of the battery terminal described in the above publication. The battery terminal 230 is formed with an operating lever 232 that is pivotally fitted to a terminal body 231 comprising a C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 234, a pair of bearing block holders 235 extending in parallel to each other from both the respective ends of the C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 234, and a seat portion 238 located opposite to the bearing block holders 235.
Bearing blocks 236 are respectively fitted to the pair of the bearing block holders 235, and a pivotal shaft 237 whose left half is threaded opposite to the right half is passed through and screwed into the bearing blocks 236. Further, turning the pivotal shaft 237 by the operating lever 232 causes the pair of bearing block holders 235 to come close to or separate from each other whereby to contract or expand the diameter of the C-shaped adaptor fitting portion 234 so that a battery post 240 can be attached to or detached from the adaptor fitting portion 234.
The terminal body 231 of the battery terminal 230 is formed by bending one sheet of metal plate as shown in FIG. 22, the pair of bearing block holders 235 is formed on one side with the central adaptor fitting portion 234 held therebetween and the stud seat portion 238 on the other side via a coupling portion 239.
Therefore, the developed shape of a metal plate to be manufactured is substantially T-shaped as shown in FIG. 23. Each portion marked with an additional reference symbol A in FIG. 23 corresponds to an element when the terminal body 231 is manufactured.
In this case, as the stud seat portion 238 is formed by bending one sheet of linear belt-like plate (a portion indicated by 238A and 239A) corresponding to the T-shaped vertical rod, the length of the belt-like plate of that portion tends to become longer and the problem is that because the dimension of the overall punching area needs increasing, the yield rate is worsened and this will result in an increase in costs.
As the section of the coupling portion 239 for coupling the seat portion 238 and the adaptor fitting portion 234 together is of one-sheet structure whose vertical dimension M is small and horizontal dimension N is large as shown in FIG. 24, the modulus of the moment of inertia to the lateral bending and the modulus of section are low and the problem is that the rigidity and strength of the battery terminal are also low when the vertical bending is taken into consideration.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention is to provide a battery post adaptor designed to make itself and a battery terminal to be fitted thereto compact.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a battery terminal designed to improve contact reliability with the least lever operating force without the deformation of a battery post or a cam portion.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a battery terminal capable of storing an operating lever in a compact form on completion of connecting operation while a battery cable is being connected to a battery terminal by using a ring terminal.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a battery terminal designed to increase the strength of a lever supporting portion and to improve reliability in handling.
A fifth object of the present invention made is to provide a battery terminal designed to improve installation workability.
A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a battery terminal designed to improve not only a yield rate at the time of blank layout in a case where a terminal body is made by bending one sheet of metal plate, but also the flexural rigidity of the terminal body that has been made up.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on a top portion of the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool;
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed; and
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position;
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position; and
wherein the flange portion of the adaptor is engaged with a top end face of the adapter fitting portion of the terminal body.
In this configuration, since the flange portion is not only used as a member operated when screwing but also used as a member for preventing the adaptor being slipped off the terminal body, the height dimension can be decreased because of omission of elements.
Preferably, the flange portion of the adaptor has a hexagonal shape such that a dimension between opposite faces is at least identical with an outer diameter of the cylindrical body of the adaptor.
In this configuration, the largest diameter of the adaptor can be decreased. Further, the adaptor can simply be screwed onto the battery post by an impact wrench or the like.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool;
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed;
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position; and
an engagement member, which provisionally retains the lever in at least one of the first position and the second position,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position; and
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position.
In this configuration, the installation workability can be improved.
In other words, in case where the lever can provisionally be held by the engagement member in the first position, any useless movement of the lever due to gravity, vibration or the like becomes preventable to ensure that the lever can be held in the preceding operating position without being affected by vibration and gravity, so that the fitting workability of the battery terminal can be improved.
Further, in case where the lever can provisionally be held by the engagement member in the second position, the completion of the pivotal operation of the lever can be decided by the touch of the provisionally holding operation. Therefore, even though the installation work is done without paying any special attention to the predetermined position in which the lever can be stopped. Thus the fitting workability becomes improvable. Moreover, the pressing force against the battery post can constantly be controlled, which also results in improving contact reliability.
Preferably, the engagement member includes a recessed portion formed on one of the terminal body and the lever, and a convex portion engaged with the recessed portion formed on the other of the terminal body and the lever.
In this configuration, in case where the operating lever is moved with force greater than the predetermined degree, the provisional holding resulting from the engagement between the convex and recessed portions is released and the operating lever is freely made pivotal. Moreover, clicking is felt at the time of their engagement to have the provisional holding confirmed thereby.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool;
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed;
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position; and
an engagement member, which provisionally retains the lever in at least one of the first position and the second position,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position; and
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position.
In this configuration, since the overlap margin at the time the cam portion is pressed against the battery post adaptor is absorbed by the elastic member, force to be applied when the lever is pivoted can be minimized. Moreover, unnatural force is prevented from being applied to the peripheral face of the battery post adaptor and the battery terminal itself. The contact load is also stabilized and contact reliability is improved as the press-contact force of the cam portion against the adaptor is determined by the elastic force of the elastic member.
Preferably, the elastic member is a plate spring which constitutes the cam portion of the lever.
In this configuration, the battery terminal can be made simple in construction as compared with a case where the elastic member is provided in any other portion.
Here, it is preferable that the plate spring is extended along an outer periphery of the cam portion such that a first end portion of the plate spring is fixed on the lever member and a second end portion of the plate spring is movable retained at the cam portion.
In this configuration, the plate spring is easily subjected to flexural deformation, so that a good elastic contact function can be fulfilled for the battery post adaptor.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool;
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed; and
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position;
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position;
wherein the terminal body is made of a single metal plate including a first portion which is bent in a thickness direction thereof to form the adaptor fitting portion, a second portion extended perpendicularly from a first end of the first portion, and a third portion extended perpendicularly from a second end of the first portion; and
wherein the second and third portions are bent so as to be overlapped with each other to form the seat portion.
In this configuration, the dimensions of the developed metal plate become reducible, whereby the yield rate of obtaining the plates can be improved when blanking operation is executed.
Furthermore, since the seat portion is formed with the two sheets of plates, the rigidity and strength thereof is increased.
Preferably, the electric wire terminal is fixed on the seat portion with a stud bolt inserted through a through hole formed in the seat portion and a nut screwed onto the stud bolt. Here, a retaining piece is integrally formed on either one of the second and third portions of the metal plate. The retaining piece is bent to form a retaining member which retains a head portion of the stud bolt.
In this configuration, the stud bolt can be prevented from slipping out by the retaining member of the battery terminal.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool;
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed;
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position; and
an elastic member provided in either one of the lever or the terminal body for bringing the cam portion into an elastic contact with the adaptor,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position; and
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position.
In this configuration, the modulus of the moment of inertia to the lateral bending and the modulus of section can be increased, so that the strength of the relevant portion can also be raised.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a battery terminal structure for connecting a terminal provided with an electric wire with a stud bolt type battery post, comprising:
an adapter, having a cylindrical body which is screwed onto the battery post, and a flange portion formed on the cylindrical body to be clamped by a screwing tool,
a terminal body, including a substantially U-shaped adaptor fitting portion which accommodates the adapter screwed on the battery post therein, and a seat portion on which the electric wire terminal is fixed; and
a lever, including a cam portion and supported on the terminal body so as to be pivotable between a first position and a second position,
wherein a space in which the flange portion is capable of passing through is secured inside of the adaptor fitting portion when the lever is in the first position;
wherein the cam portion is abutted against an outer periphery of the cylindrical body of the adaptor so that the adaptor is retained between the cam portion and an inner face of the adaptor fitting portion, when the lever is in the second position;
wherein the electric wire terminal is fixed on the seat portion with a stud bolt and a nut; and
wherein the lever includes a through hole which accommodates the nut therein when the lever is in the second position.
In this configuration, since the through hole for the purpose of avoiding the interference of the nut and the lever, the battery terminal can be made compact.